Dedicated. Loyal. Funny. Loving.

That’s how friends say they will remember John Fullerton, the longtime Newport teacher and coach who died Friday at age 67 after suffering a heart attack while fishing in Brewster, Wash.

Fullerton, they say, was a man full of life, a man who deeply loved his wife Sharon Tomlinson, and a man who cared more about teaching and coaching than the skill level of the athlete.

“He was there for everybody,” said Colleen Martin, a former javelin thrower under Fullerton, who later returned at his behest to coach alongside him at Newport. “He put everything he had into coaching and he loved all of the kids.”

Fullerton, a Shoreline graduate who played football at Western Washington and earned his master’s degree at Central, began his teaching career at Newport when the school opened.

He never left.

Instead, he stayed with the school for 44 years coaching football, track and even wrestling, leaving impressions on athletes and colleagues alike.

“He was just a very easy-going guy who showed a great passion for what he did,” said Dan Holden, a Newport football assistant who coached with Fullerton for 28 years. “He was very loyal to his friends and to his players.”

Fullerton was an offensive coordinator and line coach for the Knights, and helped Holden (a former Newport head coach) win a 4A state championship in 1992.

“John was the coach most responsible for helping Newport move the ball that year,” Holden said. “He was a great technician.”

He also had great success coaching javelin throwers – most recently helping 2009 graduate Christina Meehan to a 12th-place finish last season.

“He was the sage of javelin,” said Dave Davis, Newport’s head track coach, and Martin’s father. “He knew how to run that event, he knew how to coach it, and he knew how to teach it. He was a terrific instructor who never turned anyone away.

“It was always about the kids,” Davis continued. “We had girls throwing 30 feet and girls throwing 120 feet – and he coached them the same. He just wanted them to try their best.”

“He was there rain or shine,” Martin said. “He was always ready to have a great day.”

Even opposing coaches were touched by Fullerton’s presence.

“I think it speaks volumes about John’s quality as a human being that he touched not just the lives of his athletes and co-coaches, but also athletes and coaches from other schools,” Mount Si track coach Chris Jackson wrote in an e-mail to the Newport track program. “John is such a great example of what an educator should be. His life is such a testament to the powerful role an educator can have in the lives of others. He was truly a selfless man who committed his life to young people in a way that we all can learn from.”

Though he coached many sports, friends say Fullerton’s real passion was for fishing, and if you were around him, you were going to hear about it.

“Any player that’s ever played for him can probably tell you five different stories about fishing that he would share with the kids,” said Newport head football coach Mike Miller, who coached alongside Fullerton since 1995. “It didn’t matter if you played with him in the late ’70s or early ’90s, they were all the same stories. He was just a fun guy to be around, a true friend, very loyal. He was the glue that kept us together.”

Martin, a state-meet thrower from 1996-2001 under Fullerton, recalls him trying to improve her and a teammate’s javelin technique through an unorthodox method – with fly fishing poles.

“He always related throwing a javelin to flicking your wrists like in fishing,” Martin said. “We had a Saturday practice and he pulled up with his big blue truck and his fly fishing poles. Here we are, two girls with John and these big fly fishing rods flicking our wrists. He related everything to fishing.”

Holden recalls another time when Fullerton fell and punctured a lung while fishing before fall football practices began.

“He didn’t miss any time when we started football,” Holden said. “But he was the only coach wearing a flak jacket.”

Fullerton is survived by his wife Sharon, his sons John Wesley Fullerton and Matthew Tomlinson, daughters Stacy Fullerton and Sheila Tomlinson, and grandchildren Michael Montgomery and Bryce and Conner Beamer. There will be a celebration of his life from 1-3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Newport High School’s main gym. A reception will follow.

“I think he died doing what he loved,” Martin said. “I think he died a very happy man.”